Dwyane Wade, good will ambassador for the NBA in troubled times

Thursday

Jul 26, 2007 at 12:01 AMJul 26, 2007 at 10:27 AM

MIami star works with kids in his home state of Illinois at a basketball camp, and refuses to disparage NBA refs.

Paul Ladewski

While basketballs bounced and shots rainbowed and smiles flashed at the high school gym in suburban Chicago early Wednesday afternoon, it was difficult to tell who enjoyed the fun and drills most: the hundreds of kids who got in for free, or Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade himself.

There was little doubt his annual basketball camp was what Wade needed to take some of the sting out of his surgically repaired left knee and left shoulder, as well as the NBA referee scandal that continues to make headlines.

“I always wanted someone to do this for me,” said Wade, a native of suburban Robbins, Ill. “As a kid, I always wanted somebody to come back and touch our neighborhood, but we never had anybody that was successful.

“Just to see all the kids and their excitement and their parents watch them, it does something to me. That’s why I was excited for this week to come more so than any week this summer.”

To judge by the faces of the more than 500 kids on hand, Wade wasn’t alone.

“This is what the camp is about — giving back to his community,” said Vincent Holmes, who has known D-Wade since the fifth grade. “It’s also about giving back to his friends and brothers who share the same passion to help kids. It’s so ingrained in him to be a team player.”

In wake of allegations that referee Tim Donaghy placed bets on games he worked the last two seasons, it may take similar drive and good will for the NBA to regain the public trust in the future.

“I mean, it’s always shocking when it’s the first time,” said Wade, one of the first marquee names to broach the subject. “We didn’t want anything like this to happen. You’ve got to deal with it and move on.”

Wade’s confident the league will make a full recovery.

“Anytime something goes on in sports like this, of course it hurts you for a period of time, but we’ll bounce back from it,” Wade promised.

“We have to let the NBA and the commissioner deal with it. As players, we have to continue to play our game and make it as exciting as it has been for years.”

Wade hopes that referees will be second-guessed no more than they’ve been in the past.

“We as players and the fans question calls all the time,” Wade said. “That’s just what we do. That’s the competitive nature in us. I don’t think they should be questioned any more now because of something like this.”

Wade said he has no specific recollection of Donaghy, who worked several games in question last season. In one of them, the New York Knicks attempted 39 free throws, while the Heat had just eight tries, in addition to five technical fouls. Wade missed that game because of a dislocated left shoulder.

“Man, there are so many referees, until I saw his picture I didn’t know who (Donaghy) was,” Wade said. “I try to have respect for all of them. I don’t think one is any worse than the other.”

Wade won’t be in uniform at the start of preseason camp, and the regular-season opener is an iffy proposition at this time.

“Right now, I don’t think I will be (available),” said Wade, who squeezed in 45 minutes of rehab Wednesday between camp sessions. “From everything I’ve heard the doctors say, they want me to take my time. Everybody knows this shoulder injury is a four- to six-month (recovery time), and my doctors say it’s closer to six months than four months, but anything can change.

“My main thing is to continue to go forward and have no setbacks. I’m rarin’ to go, but I’ve played with injuries before, and it (stinks). You can’t do what you want to do, and I don’t want to go out there next season and not do what I want to do. I’ll make sure that, when I come back on the court, I’m as close to 100 percent as my body can get.”

When Wade does return to action in the fall, the Bulls should be on notice.

After his hometown team swept Wade and the Heat in four games in May in the first round of the playoffs, it ranks high on his payback list.

Asked what the outcome of the series would have been with a healthy Wade in the Heat lineup, he said, “Totally different.”

Heat in four games?

“Nah.”

Heat in five?

“Maybe six,” Wade said with a wide smile. “The Bulls are a good team, man. You got to give them credit.”

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